Fear of fireworks? This is how you help your pet feel at ease on New Year's Eve

Fear of fireworks is, unfortunately, common to dogs and cats. Your pet can feel anxious and unsafe due to the noise and flashes of fireworks. The amount of people that come visit around the holidays can also cause tension. This can manifest itself in undesirable behavior such as meowing / whining, hiding, destroying, peeing inside, etcetera. Of course you want to help your dog or cat, but what is the best approach for that? We will give you 5 tips, which you can find below, to help your pet veel at ease during New Year's Eve.

Tip 1

Give your pet the opportunity to find a spot in the house where he or she feels save. If your pet feels trapped or unable to leave, it often causes more stress. Make the chosen spot comfortable and make sure that the normal safe place where your pet likes to lie (e.g. the basket or crate) is accessible. It might happen that your pet chooses another spot to sleep than its normal place, but that should be okay too. Apparently your pet feels most comfortable in that spot at that moment.

Tip 2

Fear of fireworks can be caused by the noise and the flashes. Make sure you close your windows and doors properly to reduce noise. You can reduce the effect of the flashes by closing curtains and turning on lights in the room where your pet is staying. Turning on the tv or a radio can also help distract your pet from what’s going on outside.

Tip 3

If you have a young dog that gets scared from a unexpected bang – the best thing you can do is pretend like nothing happened. You should not ignore your dog, just behave calmly and keep going with what you were doing. Once your dog is distracted from what happened, you can give it some affection as reassurance that everything is alright. Do not use occasions like this to get acquainted with unexpected noises, as your pet is stressed already and the experience will be associated with stress in stead of relaxation. If you have an older dog that is scared of the noises, make sure you keep your dog close to you on a leash and distract it with a qua if some unexpected bangs occur. Reward your dog if the que is followed up. If you have a cat that is scared, let it come close to you if it wants to be with you, but do not overreact or start overly comforting your cat. Overall; stay calm and behave normal. Next to that, if your pet is very scared, it might be better to not let them go outside without your supervision. Maybe choose to just let your dog out in your yard in the days around New Year’s Eve. In this way you do not have to walk a super stressed and uncomfortable dog home, or loose your cat due to a scared reaction which make them flee and not find their way home again.

Tip 4

A stack of boxes for your cat, a toy filled with treats for your dog.. Think of something you can distract your pet with on the long-term. By distracting your pet, the noises and flashes might not attract all the attention it would without distraction. If your dog is not too scared, you can choose to have a long walk, so he or she is more tired at night.

Tip 5

Last but not least, it is possible that your pet unexpectedly runs away due to being surprised by a bang or flash. As said, we do not recommend letting your cat go out around New Year’s and you might have to walk your dog in your own yard for a couple of days. But things happen sometimes, so you better be prepared, just in case. Therefore, make sure your pet has a microchip that is registered to your name and address. In this way it is easier to trace you down as the owner if someone finds your pet.

Next to the tips we just gave you, we also have products which can help your dog or cat feel at ease during the New Year’s festivities. Both our product ranges make your pet feel calm without making causing drowsiness. It helps to take the rough edges of off the fear and anxiety.

Beaphar CatComfort and CaniComfort Ranges
These products contain pheromones, substances that dogs and cats use to communicate with their peers. For example, the mother pheromone helps puppies or kittens feel safe and at ease. Even when animals are adults. Beaphar CatComfort products (for cats) and CaniComfort products (for dogs) provide a reassuring and familiar feeling and can help your dog or cat with fear of fireworks. The products are available as a collar, spot on, diffuser and spray. Check out the Beaphar CaniComfort or Beaphar CatComfort page for more information.

Beaphar Calming Range
The Beaphar Calming Range contains natural extracts such as lavender and valerian. These extracts are released slowly and have a calming effect on dogs and cats. These products are available as a collar, spot on, diffuser, tablets and spray. Check out the our Behaviour page for more information.

The products may also be combined. So a CatComfort or CaniComfort collar may, for example, also be combined with Calming tablets on New Year's Eve.